Aaron Sims Creative Innovates With Litepanels’ Gemini

LOS ANGELES — June 25, 2018 — Aaron Sims Creative (ASC), a full-service creative boutique for cinematic visual effects (VFX) based in Los Angeles, has adopted Litepanels’ all-new Gemini 2×1 LED soft panel. ASC has provided iconic characters and worlds for a broad range of high-profile projects, including current hits such as the Netflix drama “Stranger Things” and the Walt Disney Pictures movie “A Wrinkle in Time.” Gemini delivers precision color control and a broad array of dynamic lighting and cinematic effects in a highly portable and lightweight LED panel, giving the ASC team newfound flexibility and versatility in creating unique lighting applications.

“Lighting plays a critical role in our work, enabling us to add real-world components to our computer-generated visual effects for enhanced realism. We need highly versatile lighting tools that are not only dependable but offer fine-tuned control,” said Mauricio van Hasselt, production manager, Aaron Sims Creative. “We’d heard all the buzz about Gemini after its launch at last year’s IBC show, but when I saw it for myself, I knew I’d found the ‘all-purpose utility knife’ we needed for lighting our projects.

“Gemini produces true, full-spectrum white light and offers an extensive choice of control options for just about any lighting application our team might dream up. The light’s exceptional color and realistic skin tones virtually eliminate the need for color correction, saving our clients time and money in postproduction. And since I’m no stranger to Litepanels — their Astra LED panels have been my mainstay lighting kit for many years — I knew I could count on the product’s durability, performance, and outstanding light quality.”

Gemini delivers flicker-free light for any frame rate, shutter angle, or intensity, making it ideal for high-speed photography, with smooth dimming from 100 percent to 0.1 percent for the smallest glint of light. The ASC crew is able to set Gemini’s correlated color temperature (CCT) anywhere from 2,700 to 6,000K to get accurate color rendition and add or subtract green with the turn of a dial. The crew can select virtually any color in the different color modes from the 360-degree color wheel in HSI Mode or create specialty colors in RGBW Mode by controlling red, green, blue, and white independently. Plus, with its new firmware release, Gemini now offers a broad array of dynamic special effects ranging from emergency lights, lightning, and fire, to pulsing, square, and strobe, just to name a few.

In one on-location example, the ASC crew can use Gemini to generate on-set muzzle flashes that the actors and environment can react to, making the scene much more realistic than if the effect were added later in postproduction. In another example, a scene with a laser beam, the crew was able to use Gemini to change the color of the laser instantly to support the director’s creative vision as he tried different scenarios for the scene. ASC also uses Gemini to generate interactive lighting on location that will later be motivated by sources created in CG.

Van Hasselt added, “We were especially impressed with Gemini’s extremely light weight. I can carry the light with me to any location, and we can easily mount the panel on a boom — a phenomenal advantage when dealing with tricky top-lighting situations. Also, with Gemini’s highly intuitive and easy-to-use control interface, we can achieve a desired effect almost instantly. We’ve been able to save multiple USB presets for a variety of different looks, such as action or horror, and then trigger them any number of times with the touch of a button.”

“ASC VFX continually pushes the boundaries of cinematic visual effects, and its otherworldly creatures and settings have brought chills and thrills to audiences all over the world,” said Alan Ipakchian, technical sales manager, Litepanels. “With Gemini, a single lightweight piece of equipment gives the ASC visual effects team greater flexibility than they’ve ever had before, with a wider range of solutions and easier access.”

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Litepanels, a brand of the Vitec Production Solutions division, was founded in 2001 by five professional gaffers and engineers who saw the future and pioneered LED lighting for motion pictures, television, and the audio-visual industry. Their Emmy® award-winning technology has now been used on thousands of productions worldwide and is trusted by the world’s leading broadcast organizations. Litepanels continues to expand its suite of flicker-free, color-accurate, fully dimmable soft lights that talent and lighting directors admire. These environmentally friendly panels can pay for themselves with power savings and long life, setting a new standard in professional lighting. More information can be found at Litepanels.com.

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